The '''lede''' or '''lead''' is the opening section of a [[newspaper]] story or [[encyclopedia]] article. It should summarize the key facts, on the assumption than many readers will want to know the gist and will not read further.
Charnley (1966) stated that "an effective lead is a "brief, sharp statement of the story's essential facts" (p. 166.). It should tell who, what, when, where and how.
Sometimes in feature stories in the newspapers or [[magazine]]s, the lede is a teaser designed not to summarize the article but to attract the reader into reading all of it.
The spelling "lede" comes from [[journalism]].
===Bibliography===
* M.V. Charnley. ''Reporting'' (2nd. ed. 1966)
* Ellis, Barbara G. ''The Copy Editing and Headline Handbook'' (2007)
* Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. ''The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper,'' (2002)
* M. L. Stein, Susan Paterno, and R. Christopher Burnett, ''The Newswriter's Handbook Introduction to Journalism'' (2006)
[[Category: Journalism]]